"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Seriously though, I had NHL Vault during the season, so I did put on one of those games while working out a few months ago. I think Emrick was calling the game. It was an amazing bit of nostalgia, and not as depressing as I thought it would be. Then again, it was not Game 4 (Game 2, maybe?), so you didn't have that impending sense of doom. I was so depressed by Game 4, we were at Harsens Island that weekend and I don't even think I watched it. Four Cups later, it's much easier to accept losing than it was back before we had put the streak to bed. 2009 was tough losing a Game 7 at home and all, but it's not even in the same ballpark as 1995, or (arguably) even the '99 loss to Colorado or 2001 to the KIngs.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

A sweep, I can handle. It means we were the lesser team. Or we didn't want it as much. Or whatever. Point is, there's really nothing to argue. No nagging what-ifs. We lost, fair, square, and definitively.

Now, that 2009 loss, on the other hand...I stopped following hockey for a couple of seasons.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Don't get me wrong, 2009 sucked hard, but I think for older fans 1995 was the greater heartbreak. Decades of watching a mediocre team, only to get thisclose and be decimated.

Fair enough. I was only...eight? Actually, I think that was my first *official* season of NHL and Wings fandom. It broke my heart, I do remember that, but I can only imagine how much it must've sucked for the older fans. (I live in PA. Not a long of Wings fans here.)

I remember Bowman saying it was the greatest (worst) dispappointment of his life.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

I remember Bowman saying it was the greatest (worst) dispappointment of his life.

I remember one of the games (2?) he absolutely tore the team to shreds in public. I can still remember his line about the players not needing a shower.

As a relatively new fan (since 92-93) I found it all a bit confusing. After each defeat I was like "its OK, we're better than them, we'll win the next one". And then we'd lose the next one, and before you knew it, it was 4-0 and all over. The never winning again feeling came in 96 - how could we be that good and still not win the Cup?

Edited by Nev, 23 August 2013 - 05:00 PM.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

The never winning again feeling came in 96 - how could we be that good and still not win the Cup?

Absolutely.

I hated the Avs with all of my heart, soul, mind, body, everything. And I was...nine?

'97 was glorious. Much more so for the older fans, I'm sure.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

The Wings won numerous Cups after the 1995 loss, while they've only gotten worse as a team since the 2009 loss. Of course if we win another Cup with this roster, it would quench the bitterness, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Also, they were never close to the Cup in 1995. They were freaking swept. Game 7 at home is as close as you can get to winning the Cup There's so many plays and bounces you can look back on in that 2009 series. What play could have turned the 1995 series around? Hard to point to any, since the team got beat so easily.

A sweep, I can handle. It means we were the lesser team. Or we didn't want it as much. Or whatever. Point is, there's really nothing to argue. No nagging what-ifs. We lost, fair, square, and definitively.

Now, that 2009 loss, on the other hand...I stopped following hockey for a couple of seasons.